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McBee avenges loss to Sousa By Don Hunt There never seems to be a dull moment when Eagle Point�s Chet McBee steps onto a wrestling mat in a big match. The often animated, sometimes agitated and always flamboyant senior avenged his only loss of the season Saturday night at South Medford High when he registered a 10-6 victory over Phoenix�s Brandon Sousa at the Rogue Valley Classic. But that was only half the story. On a night when Crater flexed its muscles to knock aside Eagle Point for the team championship, McBee and his father � Eagles coach Brad McBee � angered the Phoenix coaches and much of the crowd with their emotional flare-ups. The younger McBee grinned and yelled at Sousa as the match ended, then ran around the ring to celebrate. Coach McBee was upset that his son�s nose was bloodied by what he felt was a "sucker punch" from Sousa, and hollered at the Phoenix coaches. "I�ve been coaching for 45 years and I�ve seen anything like that," Mondale said afterwards. "He came out on the mat and cursed me. "Not even (former Eagle Point coach Bob) Bergen and I went to those extremes in the old days." Coach McBee defended his son�s style of wrestling and his own actions. "For some reason the people in this valley don�t like Chet�s style of wrestling, but he�s not dirty," Brad McBee said. "He was the one who got sucker punched. "And those guys (the Phoenix coaches) were the ones who started begging the calls even though their kid hadn�t done anything." Sousa, meanwhile, was relatively calm during the emotional storm. With a good portion of the crowd yelling "Sousa! Sousa! Sousa!" the Phoenix senior ignored Chet McBee�s taunting tactics. "He�s a good wrestler but that�s the worst sportsmanship I�ve ever seen," said Sousa, who suffered his first loss following 21 victories, including a 6-5 win over McBee at the South Coast Classic last month. "I wish I was in the same league as him because I�d love to wrestle him again." Almost lost in the shuffle was Crater�s impressive day on the mats. The Comets, who lost to Eagle Point in a dual match on Dec. 6, outwrestled the Eagles Saturday. The Comets advanced eight grapplers into the finals and crowned five championships, including top-ranked Shane Webster at 171 pounds. Webster cruised past No. 2-ranked James Mannenbach of Eagle Point 25-10 in the title match. Other Comets walking off with titles were Cody Ponder (103), Nate Gibson (112), Dustin Anders (125) and Aaron Harleman (215). Crater finished with 380 points compared to 361 for Eagle Point. Phoenix came in third with 255 points, followed by Grants Pass (82), Illinois Valley (80), Hidden Valley (78.5), North Medford (77), North Valley (76), South Medford (63) and Rogue River (56.5). Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.